So, I didn't make a lot of progress last night after work. I got distracted doing actual work on personal time, and then got distracted on TC. I did, however, managed to gather a few things for the lamps.

Here's a selection of a few hundred 3/16" cross sections of bamboo that will eventually be sanded to remove stray fibers and embedded in resin:

Next we have shells, also to be embedded in resin. These will probably decorate the bottom (and possibly sides) of the dodecahedron lamp.

And, lastly, these will definitely be a part of a few lamps. They're dyed bits of oyster shell. They're about $3/lb and have a great pearlescence to them.

I don't have a photo of it yet, but I also created a mold that will allow me to take the acrylic panels of the dodecahedron lamp and apply any volume of resin to color or embed things in them, while still allowing the panels to fit better. More explanation and photos of that to come.

Not a very exciting day, but I did get some work done. I'm waiting on the LED's, still have to order cable, and then I can finish up the Hot Lava lamp. Thanks for reading!

Thanks Wendy! I'm having a lot of fun creating art in general lately. It's been a long time, and it's nice to be creating my own work again instead of that of others.

Anyway, so here's what's new on the ever expanding list of stuff!
1. Sculpt Brad Parker's Skull Eyed Tiki (Long term, as it'll be my first mug sculpt.)
2. Fijian War Club!
I've been trying to figure out a way to laser engrave an Oceanic weapon for awhile that would do a good job of mimicking the hand carved tooling, and have just had my first successful test run. I won't be a 360 degree engraving, but rather, one of each side. I'll be cutting the blank in the next few days. Photos to follow.

Also, later today, I'll be posting photos and details of my first two tests for the dodecahedron lamp. Failure, and success!

No luck with cutting out the gunstock war club yet. I instead spent the time finding lots of Maori and Marquesan patterns. I think there's some serious weapon making in my future.

First things first, the first test pieces.

I don't know why the photo came out blue, but it did. It's actually a dark green. There's a few problems with this panel. First, it's poured too thick. This means that some of the smaller shells are lost in the resin. Second, the resin wasn't mixed properly, and so there are some white streaks. This did, however, tell me how much resin I needed to pour onto each 5" panel. Approx 10 grams, for those of you wondering.

So, I cut the resin in half and poured the second panel. This also told me a few things. I have the resin amount right, but was too light on the dye. Not nearly enough tint. It's very, very light blue. This also means that I need to frost the back of the panels for both light dispersion, and to prevent you from being able to see the bulb. I really like the way the dyed oyster shells look.

While I was at lunch today, I decided to stop by a couple of my favorite shops to look for supplies. There's a lot of places that sell "froofy" things that can be easily turned into tiki items. Like the glass vases that I spent a year and a half collecting to make wonderful floats. Anyway, I found bags of shells for $3. Very few are broken, and there's a WIDE variety.

I'll be heading to more stores tomorrow to try to buy more.

Here's some shells that are used very effectively in a lamp in our local Tiki Lounge. I tried to take a photo the other night during Tiki Tuesday, but couldn't get one that I liked. Oh hell, here it is anyway.

As you can see, there's the same type of shell hanging from the bottom. It looks great in person.

And here's my budding collection of those shells. I took the photo for pittsburghpaulie, who loves that lamp.

Not much else to report. I'm working on a second piece for the art swap, that ought to be fun. OH, and I got in my bucket of fireproofing today, which means that the lamps will not only be fireproof, but safe in a commercial setting.

On the cord those cloth cords are nice but a high dollar way to go.
Unless you use them on a table lamp or a light that is so close you see the wire
there is not a need to use that type of cord. (cool cordage though)
Also the gold looks bad as it gets old and dirty.
Brown is the best color I think as you want the cord not to be seen on hanging lights.
Plus on the not enough color tinting thing just go and buy gels and make it the color you want.
Rosco makes all colors of the rainbow and frosted gels.
These gels can be spray frosted as well plus you have the option of changing the color of your light if you want.

Skip - I don't know why I didn't think of Roscoe, I have a background in photography and film. I'll keep that little nugget in the back of my brain. Thanks!

For now, I'm waiting on parts for the other two lamps, so I decided I'd start a third lamp. It's a heaxagon lamp like the red one above here. I'll be changing it, but it'll be similar. I only got to cut it out today before heading out for my mom's birthday. Nothing exciting, really, but I took a photo anyway. That little spark on the right is the laser cutting the material.

How thick is the Acrylite?
Once you add the plexy and resin and shells ECT...
you are going to need a Battleship chain to hang that thing.

Does this laser cut Bamboo?
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HAPPY VALENTINES DAY from TIKISKIP! Now buy your lover a Light!!
Lights for home and
commercial TIKI bars.
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Hahaha. They are quite battleship like. 1/4", though that's not really necessary. I need to cut it down to 1/8" on the next ones.

It does cut bamboo, actually. Quite well. I don't have any 3 or 4" stuff, but I should really get some. It cuts wood as well, which is the next monstrosity I'm working on. It'll cut anything but metal, really. Tinfoil, and metal that thin, yes. Any other metals, no.

I'm waiting on the new Mai Tai glasses to come in at the moment. Had to buy 3 cases to get the price down, because I prefer the ones with a big, heavy bottom. The thin bottomed tapered double old fashioned I can get super cheap.

I've got like, 10 different projects running and once and have been super busy. Recently, I did the first in a series of fictional Polynesian weapons for the Creatures of the South Pacific art swap. I call it the Maori Maul.

Here's a closeup of the handle:

Here's a bad photo of the whole thing, before the wrap at the joint.

Head:

Then, I decided to have a little fun, and so I asked Tiki Tony for permission to use his artwork to engrave my ukulele. I don't have a photo of the finished product yet, but it looks amazing. I'll post that on the next update. For now, here's the design:

I mentioned before that I was waiting to get Mai Tai glasses in. Well, I got them in, finally, en masse:

They're Libbey, 12oz, heat treated. I got them because I'm producing custom Mai Tai glasses for a few venues that you all would enjoy. More on that when the event announcement is made. But for now, here's a photo of the first ones engraving:

The first run I did for a good friend, who is better know as Dr. Bamboo, Mr. Craig Mrusek.
http://drbamboo.blogspot.com/ Go read it if you haven't.

It's a mask he designed on one side, with the Dr. Bamboo logo on the other. Unfortunately, if you've had a Mai Tai at Frankie's, you know that once condensation hits an engraved glass, it's game over. It's very hard to see the logo. But when they're first poured, or empty, they look great. Here's a Mai Tai Craig made for me with Flora de Cana and Smith & Cross, two of my favorites.

The next design is one I'm doing for another friend, whose work is better known as Atomic Cheescake Studios. It's for her home bar, in Baltimore, MD. The glasses aren't done yet, but here's the design:

The lines signify the top and bottom of the glass. Go take a look at her work, and send her an email that she needs to come to Hukilau this year. Trying to get her to join the fray. Just be warned that there is an autoplay of music, so make sure your speakers aren't all the way up.
http://www.atomiccheesecakestudios.com/

Completely unrelated to making anything, I scored this at an antique store, which made me very happy.

It also brings me to 10 Papua New Guinea pieces! A good start, but nothing like the big boy Swanky has in his home bar.

Sooooooooooo, back to work on the lamps! I got myself a big sheet of Fijiian tapa cloth:

And I began to cut it for panels for the lights. Fortunately, the cloth is divided off rather nicely, and so I'm able to use certain parts for certain panels for all the lights I have going on at the moment.

That's about it. I've been working feverishly on a secret project, that I won't be able to divulge until after Hukilau, and I'm gathering things together to start construction on my home bar.

Just a heads up, there will be a full post on The Marketplace about it when the time comes, but I will be offering custom Mai Tai glasses in small or large quantities for everyone's enjoyment. There will be pre-made designs to choose from, as well as the option to use your home bar's logo, a tapa pattern, recipes, the possibilities will be endless! But most importantly, they will be affordable. Custom glasses for the price of a Trader Vic's Mai Tai glass, or even less! I've already got some pre-orders from TC members, but more on that when I've finished the orders for the under wraps project I'm working on at the moment.